My favourite Christmas gift...

Monday, January 16, 2023

Within forty days of my wife's passing, she promised she'd send an owl to let me know that she was okay. Well, as I related in a previous post, Nicole over-delivered, with not just a female saw-whet owl named Atwood, but an entire owl exhibit on day 39.

My neighbour Ann Kelly is a stone painter. No, not a stoned painter. She paints wildlife on stones. After reading the story about the owl exhibit, she painted me a saw-whet owl on a stone as a Christmas gift...

Sadly, the photograph doesn't capture the fine details. But, without a doubt, the best Christmas gift I received this year.

Stay sane, stay real,

John C. A. Manley

PS You can see and purchase more of Ann's wild stone art on Etsy and Ebay. She is also the author of Focus on Bible Codes (under her pen name of Arielle Kelly).

PPS And, for more about my wife's life, passing and afterlife adventures click here.



John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/